I got a brand new pair of rollar skates.

I'm stealing this from Will who stole it from someone else. Bwahaha.

Top 5 Movie Theater Experiences

5) Alvin & the Chipmunks 2
Ha! Did you expect this one? :) If I remember right it was very last minute. My family had discussed possibly seeing Alvin the next week. The girls had wanted to see it. And suddenly one day I received a call. We were going at 4:00. Could I make it?
I was off that day, and I have no idea why now. I remember being really excited that it worked out. And I think almost the entire Plumb/Puckett side of my family went. Spread out all across a row, my cousins, their kiddos, aunt and uncle... It was pretty awesome. :) The movie theater was filled with kids. Our kids loved it. It was great.
Hey guys, we should do that again. ;)

4) Phantom of the Opera
Oh, my masked men. Three of the movies on my top five contain you. Will, Holly, Brad & I drove to Wichita's Warren Theater to see this one in style. :) Lovell joined us along the way and we decided to stop off at the Wichita Zoo first. The reason we stopped at the Zoo first was because it was winter and since it was so cold out it was $1 for all visitors.
It. was. winter. It was around 30 degrees. We were beyond shivering. We were losing feeling in body parts. The indoor Rainforest exhibit saved us.
And then we saw the movie that was directed by a director I had a, um, distaste for because he had previously destroyed the Batman (and superhero) franchise with Batman & Robin. Oy.
But running around like crazy people at the Zoo with friends and topping it off with one of my favorite musicals makes the list. :)

3) Batman Returns
I was seven when this came out and my dad actually took me to see it in theaters. I watch the movie now and wonder if mom knew he was going to take me. ;) But all I really remember from being seven was that Catwoman knocked out her "Hello There" sign to read something entirely different and that Penguin ate a raw fish. And I was really disgusted by the eating of the raw fish at seven.
But my dad took me and he loved Batman. We had Batman posters up all over the garage (he even had one for the Animated Series). I loved Batman. I had all the toys. They were my favorites. In fact, in my room today, all my Batman Returns toys remain out on a shelf. His Batman & Joker from the 1989 movie sit on a shelf opposite of them. Brad & Regina last year bought the Joker from Dark Knight for my Christmas gift that hangs out with them.
So while I may not remember much about the actual viewing itself Batman Returns is on my list because I'll never forget how cool it was to go see it with him.

2) Chicago
I want to say it was May, but now that I see the release date was January, I'm not sure that's right. But whenever it was, I was really struggling. It was my first year of college, nothing was going right and I was nearing some major tests and had a paper to write. Stress. And then out of the blue Will & Holly kidnapped me. I had no idea where we were going.
They were kidnapping me to go see Chicago which at that point I still hadn't seen and was out of almost all the theatres. But they found it still playing a late showing at Quail Springs Mall. When we arrived, however, the showing time had been wrong. It wasn't starting for another 45 minutes. I still had a paper to write. Could we wait that long?
Absolutely. I was so overwhelmed with their kindness and so happy that they even considered this (plus, I had really been wanting to see the movie) that we stayed. We ate Sonic and listened to FIF while we waited. We got home late. It didn't matter- my paper was suddenly no big deal. Because my friends are awesome.


1) The Dark Knight
"And here we...go."
I know. You're shocked. But there's a reason it's so obvious, because this one takes the cake.

I have never, ever in my life been so excited about a movie or even a show. It was July 18th, 2008. I was useless at work. The hype had been building for months. Batman Begins had been awesome. The potential of having a wonderful Batman trilogy was within reach. But I knew it would all depend on the second one, because the second movie in a trilogy is usually the weakest. If this one could be good, then I knew we could make it.
Then there was Heath Ledger. Oscar talk had been rumored since even before his death and after his death things just exploded. No one knocked his performance an ounce. It was brilliance they said. And I was getting really worried that the hype had gotten so out of hand that he would never be able live up to it. I expected his performance to be good, but the expectation was now so huge, his performance would have to be mind blowing.
It was a constant topic among my friends. The lines from the trailer and viral marketing constantly ran through my head. Why so serious? Where is she? Here's my card.

And then finally the day came. And I was a basketcase at work. And five minutes till Bobby closed up early so I could take off. And I did too, because prior to going to the movie, I also needed to make Kelly's bridesmaid dinner at Zios.
And this is how awesome Kelly is: This was days before her wedding and I'm at her dinner for all her bridesmaids checking my watch. And she still loves me. :)The dinner was delicious, the company was wonderful and then I was on my way again to rest of the way to Quail Springs Mall. Shaking. And then suddenly it hit me: What if I don't like this? I actually hadn't considered that possibility before. What if I don't like this? What if this isn't that good? What if this fails miserably? I know it sounds overdramatic to describe "terror swept over me" about a movie, but really, I was almost sick.

I should insert here: Will had already seen the movie hours earlier at Disneyland. And what message does he send me?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Twitch. "What does that mean?! Good, bad?!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
....
So not only was I waiting but now I had that in my head and I had no idea what it meant.

Quail Springs Mall parking was packed. I had to park way out in the middle of nowhere. All I could remember was it was near Sears, but it didn't matter, because the goal was just to get inside. Most of my friends in the area were there. I saw the same sick worry I had mirrored on Eric's face. Jesse let me play on his iPhone until the previews started.
And then...it began. And of course, if you've seen the movie, you know it never really stops until the end. Suddenly I realized why Will just sent me a screaming text message. Because your brain is constantly trying to work to process everything going on the first time you watch it.
One particular favorite memory is when Gordon goes into Dent's office for the first time and Dent asks him what the cops call him behind his back. And Eric & I suddenly jolted at the same time, realizing what was coming.
And then there's Ledger. Who is indeed truly mindblowing and probably the only performance I have seen that I can say has ever lived up to the massive hype.

The show finished and we sat frozen in our seats. Then I couldn't find my car. Jesse had to drive me around until we found it because it was late and I was tired and had no idea where my car was. And then I drove home, drained from the excitement and crashed. And I still get jittery when I talk about it because I know how incredibly hard it will be for anything to top it. It was such a wild ride from the beginning rumors to the final credits.

And now I'm just waiting until July 20th, 2012 for The Dark Knight Rises. ;)